2/3/2010 - Cabinet rejects national parks proposal

Cumbria County Council’s Cabinet today (Tuesday March 2) rejected proposals for extending the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks.

This decision follows Natural England’s consultation on plans to extend the eastern and southern sides of the Lake District and western and northern boundaries of the Yorkshire Dales in Cumbria.

The county council has been asked for its views on the proposals and the impact they would have on a range of issues from the shift in planning and countryside access functions to the national park authorities from the council to the possible effects on rural communities. 

Today’s Cabinet decision to decline supporting any extension will now form the basis of the county council’s response to Natural England’s consultation.

Cabinet raised concerns that changes to the national park boundaries would lead to a democratic deficit where decisions currently dealt with by elected county or district councillors would be taken by unelected members of the national park authorities. 

Councillors also highlighted national parks having more stringent planning restrictions and generally higher house prices as a possible negative impact on people living in the areas that would become national parks under Natural England’s proposals. 

As the proposed extensions affect Eden and South Lakeland specifically, the county council’s local committees for the two districts were last month asked for their views on the proposals.

Both committees recommended that Cabinet should decline to support the proposals due to concerns over the impact on local people and reservations about whether they would have benefits for local communities.

In addition to the local committee consultation a briefing session for councillors was held following last month’s full council meeting where concerns were again raised about the proposals.

Councillor Tim Knowles, Cumbria County Council’s Cabinet member for the environment, said: "While we do work closely and constructively with the national park authorities and Natural England, we feel we can’t support proposals that will take decisions out of the hands of democratically elected members and could have a negative impact on some of our local communities.

"The areas that Natural England are proposing become parts of the national parks are already beautiful and unspoiled areas of countryside and this won’t change if they aren’t incorporated into the national parks."

While cabinet rejected Natural England’s proposals, members did agree to receive a report on the possibility of establishing Orton Fells as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

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